Briton Cameron Norrie is “pumped” at the prospect of meeting world number one Carlos Alcaraz in the second round of the Paris Masters after beating Sebastian Baez in straight sets.
The world number 31 defeated Argentinian Baez, who was twelve places below him, 6-3 6-4 in a match with six service breaks.
24-year-old Briton Jacob Fearnley was less fortunate in the French capital, losing 6-1 6-4 to Russian twelfth seed Andrey Rublev.
Norrie won the first three games before his serve was broken to 15 when Baez pulled the score back to 3-3.
However, the 30-year-old regrouped to win the next three matches, converting his second set point.
Norrie again threatened to throw away a 3–0 lead in the second set, saving a break point in the sixth game, and later four more in the 10th game, before wrapping up the match at the first opportunity.
“I was very tight on serve for the match. I said I would pretend it was 0-30 and then it was 0-30 and 0-40,” Norrie told Sky Sports.
“It was about getting the job done and it was nice to deal with some adversity. It wasn’t a typical match. He fought well.”
Norrie meets Alcaraz on Tuesday, who left last year’s tournament in the third round. The Spaniard will play his first match on tour since beating Taylor Fritz in the Japan Open final at the end of September.
Alcaraz have won five of their seven meetings and defeated Norrie in straight sets in the Wimbledon quarter-finals this year.
Later on Center Court, Fearnley struggled to make a dent in Rublev’s play as the Briton was hampered by eleven double faults compared to Rublev’s two.
Fearnley was outside the top 500 players in the world just over a year ago but has risen up the rankings, reaching the top 50 in June.
However, he said his form was affected by nerves, especially when serving, and he subsequently dropped to 78th.
The issue proved decisive against Rublev, who broke Fearnley’s serve five times and wrapped up the win after 78 minutes on court.
The world number 17 will face America’s Learner Ten in the next round after the 19-year-old defeated Portugal’s Nuno Borges 6-2 7-6 (9-7).
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